The invention relates to a magnetic-tape apparatus, comprising a deck carrying a cylindrical drum system provided with at least one rotatable magnetic head, on which deck a sliding plate carrying at least two mutually spaced tape guides is guided for rectilinear movement towards and away from the drum system. Movement of the sliding plate from an initial position towards the drum system causes a length of magnetic tape to be led towards the drum system, after which movement when the sliding plate is in an end position the magnetic tape is wrapped around a part of the circumference of the drum system by said tape guides. The deck also carries two mutually spaced winding spindles for winding and unwinding the magnetic tape respectively.
A magnetic-tape apparatus of this kind is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,694. This known apparatus comprises a rectilinearly movable sliding plate which by means of the tape guides pulls the magnetic tape over some length out of a cassette containing the magnetic tape and subsequently wraps it around a part of the drum system. Generally, this movement is referred to as "threading in" of the magnetic tape. The reverse operation during which the sliding plate moves back and the tape guides feed the magnetic tape back into the cassette is referred to as "threading out" of the magnetic tape. The sliding plate of the known apparatus controls only these threading-out and threading-in operations. For controlling the other functions of the apparatus, such as pressing the pressure roller against the capstan and switching the drive means, the known apparatus comprises a number of separate control elements. These elements render the known apparatus comparatively intricate and also less suitable for compact construction.